MGW, which has a turnover of €30m a year, was acquired by Akiem in 2017 with Akiem subsequently created a maintenance activity in Strasbourg.
Akiem Technik’s objective is to double the number of locomotives it maintains from 200 to 400 in the 17 European countries where it is present in the next few years.
In France the company recently became Entity in Charge of Maintenance (ECM) for 20 class Y 8000 diesel shunters and has increased availability by introducing on-site maintenance while reducing costs. Akiem Technik is doing the same for 40 Prima (BB 27000) electric locomotives and is also adapting 10 class BB 36000 and a number of class BB 27000 electric locomotives for use in central Europe.
Akiem Technik has long-term plans to bring even more maintenance in-house and hopes to build its own dedicated depots in France and central Europe.
Akiem was set up by French National Railways (SNCF) in 2008 to take over 270 surplus locomotives from the Fret SNCF fleet. In February 2020, Akiem acquired a fleet of 137 locomotives from Macquarie European, and now has a total fleet of 750 locomotives and passenger trains.
